Taboo
by Silentgal
Summary: Years have passed since the incidents in Monsters Inc, and Mary has grown into a confident, outspoken thirteen-year-old. Still visited by Sulley and Mike, and neighbours with monster spy, Tessa, she loves her life. But something is stirring in Monstropolis and she and the rest of the motley gang may just be the only people capable of stopping an interspecies war.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Birthday**

Today was Mary's thirteenth birthday. The sun was shining, a couple of ravens scrapped and crawked over who knows what, and Mary was standing on the lawn in t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, faux leather holdall over her shoulder, feet wet from the sprinklers.

"Can I just go see Tessa first?" she begged her parents. "She might have something for me and I won't see her again for ages!"

"Oh all right," her mother sighed. "But be quick; we can't miss the flight."

Mary's birthday was right in the middle of summer vacation and so her parent's had decided that a great birthday present would be to go visit cold, wet London for the week, and watch Les Mis at Queens Theatre.

She ran across the empty road to Tessa's house and rang the doorbell. Tessa opened the door almost immediately, she must have been waiting.

To look at her, there was nothing especially unusual about Tessa. She was a tall, slim women in her late twenties. Not overly chatty, but not painfully quiet either. Foundation spread on a little thickly, perhaps, but that wasn't that unusual. You'd never guess she wasn't human.

Of course, that was the point of it all. Foundation and gloves to cover her blue skin, leg braces over her tentacles to help her walk like a human, bangs to cover her third eye. As a spy for Monstropolis, Tessa couldn't be discovered.

"Boo, how lovely to see you before you go! Happy birthday and come in, I have something for you."

Mary followed Tessa into the house. The wallpaper looked a little shabbier, the carpet worn down, but apart from that, it looked pretty much the same as when Tessa had moved in, almost seven years before. Tessa hadn't done any redecorating since then.

"Now where did I put it... Aha!" Tessa handed Mary a small box. "Open it."

Inside was a little silver owl pendant, shaped like a rounded tear-drop. Black stones – obsidian? – glinted in its eyes.

"Oh, it's beautiful..." she murmured. She looked up at Tessa. Thank-you so much!"

Tessa smiled. "It's the symbol of Athena, goddess of wisdom in battle. I got it to remind you to think before you do things."

Mary gasped in mock outrage, then laughed. Outside she heard a car horn. "That'll be my parents, gotta go. Bye!" Tessa laughed as she sprinted to the car. She liked Mary, she really did. She was the only human she could trust.

###

Hurtling back across the road, she practically swung into the car.

"You took your time." her father grumbled as he reversed out of the driveway.

Mary shrugged. "It didn't take that long."

"If we miss the flight it's your fault."

"Whatever."

"Don't 'whatever' _me_, miss."

"'S_my_ birthday."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, sorry for the wait, but my teachers dumped a literal ton of homework on my head, and then I had to stamina build for my cornet exam, and ****_then_****I was ill... But I'm fine now, soooooo...**

**Roll on chapter 2!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

**London**

"Oh that looks _lovely _on you!"

Mary sighed, amused. "That's what you've said to every single thing I've tried on."

They were shopping in London, and Mary thought her mother was enjoying this rather too much, cooing and squealing at everything she tried on. She shot her mother a look. "Are you actually _trying _to embarrass me?"

Her mother smirked. "Yes."

"Well, at least I've got _that _cleared up now." Mary flicked her fringe out her face.

Right now, she was wearing a knee-length navy Ralph Lauren trench coat with pink skinny jeans and lime green Doc Martens.

"We should _so_ buy them!"

"No."

"But-"

_"__No!"_

"Fine." Her mother pursed her lips. "_I_ still think the outfit suits you."

"Well I don't."

"Okay, get changed again then. Where to next?"

"Jack Wills?"

"Hmmmm..."

"Please?"

"Fine."

_###_

Mary flopped onto the hotel bed feeling thoroughly exhausted. She wasn't much of a shopper, and the day had taken a lot out of her. She closed her eyes, and just then her phone buzzed.

_Hey Boo, done your music practice yet?You packed _

_your instrument for a reason, you know..._

_-Tess_

Mary sighed. As her music teacher, Tessa could be relentlessly persistent. Ah well, she'd do it later.

_###_

Two minutes and sixteen texts later, Mary was off the bed and unpacking her piccolo trumpet. Tessa always won, somehow. As she assembled her music stand, her mother came into the room.

"Don't forget to put your practice mute in; we don't want people complaining." she said.

Mary nodded, bunging the mute in the end of her instrument, a silver Yamaha YTR-6810S. She loved her instrument, she really did, she always polished it and took care not to drop it, but she didn't see why she had to practice every day. One thing that Tessa always said was, "Every day you don't practice, your playing goes back two days." but Mary had never found that true. When she practised, sometimes her playing excelled, others it got worse. Same when she didn't: sometimes the break was good. _Stupid teachers over-analysing everything!_

_###_

The rest of the week passed in a blur of shopping and sightseeing, until the evening of the last day. Mary and her parents stumbled out of the theatre, yawning. Les Mis had been great, and yet Mary was so tired. The family leisurely made their way to the tube station, taking in the last they would see of this place. They were nearly at the station when Mary realised something was wrong. Someone, no _something _was following them. She wasn't sure what, but it wasn't human.

Ever since the traumatic kidnapping when she was much younger, Mary had developed a sixth sense about people watching and following her, and she wasn't sure, but this _thing_ seemed familiar somehow. Not good familiar, but the familiar of a long-forgotten nightmare. She felt her heart thud wildly as her pulse sped up. _Keep calm, _she told herself. _You don't know for sure it's anything._ But somehow, she did. Something was following her and her parents and it wasn't human and she didn't know what, although she found she did have an inkling. But she didn't want to think about that.

She forced herself to stay calm. It wouldn't attack in public, not with so may people around, unless it was who she thought it was, and then he could attack sneakily, so she would have to stay on her guard. She stuck close to her parents; it wouldn't dare attack if the two humans who cared the most for her safety were watching her.

When they got on the train, the presence got on the train with them, watching from above. By the time they'd got back to the hotel, Mary's nerves were well and truly frazzled. As soon as she got into her room, she dumped her bag on the bed and pulled out her spray bottle. Too bad she'd had to leave her spray paint at home – aerosols weren't allowed on planes – but coloured water spray would have to do.

She spun round and pumped the trigger for all it was worth at the presence, outlining it in pale pink water droplets. Her blood went cold.

* * *

><p><strong>Dun dun duuuun! Who do you think it is? Review! I feel lonely... How about the person to type the tenth review gets digital cookies. See? You just made me resort to bribery!;_; But seriously, reviews make me happy.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**I've finished chapter 3! Don't expect updates this frequent normally. The cookie offer's still going, though...****But read on, this is the chapter where things start happening!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

**Randall**

_(She spun round and pumped the trigger for all it was worth at the presence, outlining it in pale pink water droplets. Her blood went cold.)_ Her heart went crazy, hammering desperately against her ribcage. In one swift movement, she pulled her new rounders bat from her bag and got into a defensive pose, back to the wall. She never took her eyes off the gecko-like lizard in front of her.

"Hello Randall." she whispered, not trusting herself to talk normally. The purple lizard didn't bother to reply as he lunged for the bat in her hand. She swung, and it connected with his shoulder with a satisfying crack, sending him flying backwards. "What do you want?" she hissed, sidestepping to the window.

Randall finally seemed to recover his voice. "I don't want a fight."

"I'm sure you don't."

"I'm only here to observe! You think I'd _want_ to get any closer to you than necessary?"

"What if I don't want you to?"

Randall answered that by lunging again. Her bat smashed into his ribs. "Stay away from me!" she screamed. Her mother banged on the door. "Are you okay, Mary?" she called, sounding concerned. Randall, who had shaken the droplets off by then, vanished.

Mary, cursing, forced a cheery note into her voice as she called, "Yeah, I'm fine, just, um, singing!"

"Really?" her mother peeked into the room. "Well, just try to keep the noise down, okay?"

"Yeah, fine."

"And move away from the window, I don't want you falling out."

Mary rolled her eyes. "I'm not three!"

"Mary Gibbs, you will do as you're told!"

Mary sighed and stepped reluctantly away from the open window. Immediately, she felt a rush of air and she knew Randall was gone. Her mother nodded, satisfied, and left. Her phone buzzed.

_Is it too late to tell you to do your music practise?_

_-Tess_

Grabbing the phone with shaking hands, she typed:

_Yeah, it's way too late! And anyway, I have more _

_important news: Randall was here! In London! He's_

_following me!_

_-Boo_

Then she flopped down on her bed, shaking.

_###_

Tessa heard the phone vibrate against her dressing table where she'd put it down seconds before. She picked it up and unlocked it, before reading the text. Her mood dropped. Randall? In the human world? What was he doing here? He was supposed to be in prison! Since he'd been banished, he had snuck back into Monstropolis and got himself arrested, but apparently he'd escaped.

Following Boo? That wasn't good news either. Tessa was employed to make sure that Boo had no more dealings with monsters, and though she always made an exception for Mike and Sulley, this was different. Her occupation was being threatened. She had to do something! She texted back:

_You're coming back tomorrow, right? If he follows you_

_onto the plane, come over to mine as soon as you get _

_back. No, screw that, come over anyway._

_-Tess_

She hit send.

_###_

Randall did follow Mary onto the plane. She spent the entire journey in a state of high agitation, jumping at the slightest noise. Her parents kept glancing over, concerned, and a well-meaning women asked her if she wanted a sleeping pill. She politely declined, and her parents gave the unfortunate female strange looks.

By the time the plane touched down, Mary was twitching with paranoia. By the time she was in the car, she was exhausted, the panicky adrenaline wearing off. Despite all intentions, she felt herself drifting off to sleep. She woke up as the car pulled into the driveway hours later.

"Can I see Tessa now?" she asked. "She told me to visit her as soon as we got back."

Her father sighed. "It's late. Can't this wait until tomorrow?"

"Tessa did say to see her as soon as we got back..."

Her mother rolled her eyes. "Oh go on then, but be quick about it."

"Thanks!" Mary sprinted across the road, dodged a car, and was at Tessa's house even as her parents and the driver yelled at her. Tessa opened the door almost immediately, and Mary stumbled inside. Tessa closed the door.

"Boo! Are you okay?"

Mary nodded. " 'M alive, at least." She gave a shaky laugh. "I'm probably overreacting."

Tessa shook her head. "You were right to tell me, this is exactly the sort of thing that concerns me. It's a massive security breach and I have no idea how they've managed to mess up this bad."

"Who's 'they'?"

"The MSSS, the Monstropolis security and secrecy service. Off-branches include the CDA, the MSS, and the HAS. The MSS, the Monster Secret Service, are the guys I work for. This shambles is probably the fault of the CDD, the Criminal Disciplinary Department, for not putting enough investment into prisons, and the HAS, Human Avoidance Scheme, for not putting enough importance on security around portals to this world."

"Are you sure it's shambles?"

"Oh, yes, definitely." They moved into the kitchen. "Cocoa?"

"Yes please. How is it shambles? Just a little security breach, surely?"

"_Randall _is a minor security breach, but what him escaping _represents_, is the shambles."

"Oh, right." A brief pause, then, "And what is that, exactly?"

"Just how easy it is for criminals to break out of prison, escape to this world and reconnect with each other. Gather together in groups to do whatever for X reason and not realising that they are putting the entire monster population at risk!" Tessa said, placing a steaming mug down in front of Mary.

"But criminals get banished, don't they?"

"Only for serious crimes, and to mostly unpopulated areas. Banishment is for when the crime is so bad that they can't be kept in Monstropolis any more, and then measures have to be taken to ensure that they stay away from humans. If it was so easy, that would be where most criminals _would_ be sent. But it isn't."

"Oh."

"Exactly."

"But what about me? What am _I_ supposed to do? How do we stop Randall following me?"

"And here we come to the main question. Sorting out the bigger things is my betters' responsibility, whereas Randall and how he concerns you is mine. The question is, is he still following you, or has he followed you enough? It could be that he was just using you to lead him to other people."

Mary thought for a second. "I didn't think of that. Was there anything I should have done to stop him then?"

"Nothing you could have been expected to do, don't worry." Tessa smiled. "Now finish your drink, your parents will be wondering what's keeping you. Don't worry, I have a plan."

It was only once she left that it occurred to Mary that Tessa probably wasn't actually that calm.


	4. Chapter 4

**I have actually had this chapter finished for a while now, just haven't had the chance to upload it.**

* * *

><p><strong>The Plan<strong>

2am and Mary was still up, sitting on her bed, infra-red glasses on, just in case, telling Sulley what had happened, and about her talk with Tessa. "Wish I knew what her plan is, though." she said.

"I wish I did, too." Sulley did not sound happy. Not surprising, really, given the circumstances.

"I trust her, though. She's good at what she does. The best."

"She'd better be."

Mary looked up at her old friend. "Don't worry, I can take care of myself."

"Hmmm, not sure about that."

"Really, I'll be fine; Tessa's been teaching me mixed martial arts for the last six months."

"She has?" The blue monster heaved a sigh. "I wish I could get away more often, I seem to be missing out on quite a lot."

"Anyway, my point is I'm perfectly safe."

"I'm not sure six months is long enough-"

"Oh, stop worrying!"

"I wish I could." Sulley frowned.

He sounded tired, and Mary looked at him then, like, really looked at him. He looked worn out, and she could see he was getting old. She had known he wasn't as young as he used to be, but it hadn't sunk in before.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Sulley had noticed her staring.

"You look old."

He chuckled. "I'm not young any more, no, but I'm not as old as all that."

Mary scrunched up her nose. "You look old to _me_."

"That's because you're young. I was as young as you are once, would you believe it? And what's with the goggles?"

"Infra-red. These things see heat instead of light. This particular pair aren't that good, no zoom function or automatic focus, – Tessa's got better ones – but these are more portable and way more stylish; the other ones are so chunky!"

"Oh, I see. Forgive me if I still don't get why you're wearing them."

"They render camouflage obsolete." Seeing he still didn't understand, she added, "That means I'll always be able to see Randall."

"Oh."

"There, happy? I'm not being irresponsible after all. I have my reasons!"

Sulley just shook his head, smiling.

_###_

Mary found out what Tessa's plan was the very next morning. She had just finished breakfast and had gone upstairs to brush her teeth when the doorbell rang. Her mother went to answer it.

"Oh, hello Tessa. What do you want?"

"I was wondering if you had any plans for the rest of vacation?"

"As a matter of fact, no. Why?"

"Well, I've set up a summer camp for all the children I teach, and I was wondering if Mary would like to come."

"When does it start?"

"On Monday."

"Sorry if I sound rude, but isn't that a little short notice?"

"Well, it was originally going to be fourteen of the older ones, but one of the girls dropped out," Tessa lied, "And as Mary is the next eldest, I wondered if she would like to join us. It's completely free."

"Oh, in that case..."

Mary stopped listening, concentrating on her teeth. So that was Tessa's plan. Interesting. She wondered if there really were other kids. Probably not.


	5. Chapter 5

**Just when you thought it was safe to start writing again, the heavens open and pour down homework assignments by the kabillion, and just when you think you've swum to the top of the homework pile, another COUPLE OF TONS fall out the sky and DROWN YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!**

**I honestly feel like Sisyphus in that Greek myth. **

***Meditates* Anyway, I'm in the Easter Holidays now, so I should get maybe another couple of chapters done.**

**If you don't know who Rex Boggs is, go look him up on the Disney wiki or something before you read this chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong>Rex's POV (Kinda)<strong>

It's always hard being a teenager. It's even harder when you're uncle's an infamous criminal. Especially when said uncle had just gone and done a jailbreak.

Rex was on his way to school, the start of a new year. Invisible and hunched over, he crept along the pavement, dragging his canvas satchel behind him by its strap. The Gang were bad enough normally, but now? They had always taken advantage of the fact that everyone else stayed away from him. Not that Rex blamed his classmates. He was a pariah because of his uncle, and that was fine by him. He didn't deserve any better.

Ten metres from the school gate, he chickened out. He couldn't do it. It was bad enough normally, but now? He turned and fled.

_###_

**Boo**

"Have you got everything?"

"Well if I haven't, it's a bit late now!"

Mary's mother laughed. "I guess."

"I _have_ got everything, though."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Stop worrying."

"Well I'm sorry but that's what mothers do, and do you really think it's necessary to wear that shirt?"

Mary looked down. She was wearing a pink Jack Wills T-shirt. She saw nothing wrong with that.

"Shouldn't I be?"

"You could ruin it!"

Mary blinked. "It's supposed to be a _music camp _where we play _music_ and perform _symphonies_,not some _military hard-core boot camp!_ I highly doubt anything is going to happen to it."

"Hmph."

"Seriously, it will be fine."

"If you say so. Have you packed your trumpet?"

"Squished up right next to the, um, _toiletries_."

"Are you sure that's sanitary?"

Mary growled. "It's in a fli- a _case_ for pity's sake! And anyway, that's the only place it fits, it's all cubically measured!"

"What?"

"It's the only way to fit everything in. Why I can't have my instrument separately, I don't know..."

"I don't want you to drop it!"

Mary closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall. "Fine... yeah... whatever..."

Her mother glanced at her watch. "Well, you'd better be going now. So nice of Tessa to provide transport..."

"Mmm, yeah, can I go now?"

"Isn't that what I just said?"

"Was it?"

"_Yes_!"

"Oh, okay. Bye, then."

"Bye!"

_###_

They had been driving for an hour before Mary said anything. Even then she was reluctant to speak. Long car journeys made her tired, and there was nothing she would have liked to do more than to drift off, but she had far more important things to do.

"So where are we going?"

Tess sighed. "I have a manor house in the English countryside."

"Wait, what? England? Why England? What is this English … _thing?!_"

The corner of Tessa's mouth quirked upward. "Thing?"

"Yes, _thing_. It's like I can't get away from the country!"

Tessa smiled.

"So we're going to an airport? I don't have my passport!"

"Don't worry." Tessa waved something at her. She grabbed it.

"Aurora McParland, born December 14th..." Her voice trailed away.

"Fake ID. You can never be too careful. I'll be Levana Jones, seclusive landowner."

"You really think we'll need it?"

"Well, if not everything goes according to plan, you may end up staying with me for longer than expected. We need to cover our tracks in case the police or your parents happen on the off-chance to check with the airports."

"You're going to _kidnap_ me?"

"Hopefully not."

There was a pause, then, "Where did you even get this stuff?"

Tessa laughed. "I'm a secret agent, Boo, where do you think?"


	6. Chapter 6

**...et le chapitre six!**

* * *

><p><strong>England<strong>

**Rex's POV (Kinda)**

To be quite honest, he had no idea what he was doing. Rex wasn't the sort of person who generally bunked off school, and he couldn't exactly go back home. He didn't want to hang around the streets either. He couldn't hide forever, and it wasn't as if anything was going to get any better. Short of going to the human world and finding Randall, there was nothing he could do.

Wait, what?

_###_

**Boo**

Turbulence. The plane rocked and Mary's drink splashed over the rim. Tessa had fallen asleep quite easily, but she was feeling sick. The liquid in her stomach sloshed like crazy. See, this was the worst thing about turbulence. You couldn't leave your seat to go to the toilets to throw up down one, because the seatbelt light had pinged on, but this was the moment when you most needed to. Mary stared resolutely out the airbus's window, at the clouds below. It didn't help.

_###_

By the time the plane touched down in Birmingham airport, Mary was feeling distinctly queasy, and was glad to breath in the fresh air. Tessa had explained that her countryside manor was a little way outside Stanhope, in the North of England. If the traffic was good, it should take three and a half hours to get there. If not, it could take anything up to five.

Once out of the airport, they were met by Tessa's chauffeur, Stephenson. Mary had never thought of Tessa as rich before, but she guessed that all the money was supplied by her employers to make sure she could do the best job possible.

Mary slept for the rest of the journey, the side of her face pressed against the cold glass in a way that would leave a mark on her cheek for the rest of the day. She hadn't even realised just how exhausted she was until she had sank back into her seat.

The car pulled up to the house four hours later. Mary got out, stretched, and looked around. The extensive driveway was sandy-coloured gravel, and grass spread out for quite a distance. The house was a large red-brick affair with concrete keystones above each whitewashed-wood-framed window. It wasn't ugly, exactly, but it hadn't been build with aesthetics in mind either. It was blocky and stable, with two chimneys, one at either end, and three attic windows, the middle of which looked as if it had tried to be a tower, but was far to stubby for the name. Ivy completely blanketed one side of the house, and was thriving.

"It was build in the 1860s," Tessa said, "About the same time as the London Fire Brigade was established, and Charles Dickens published _Great Expectations_."

Mary jumped, and then frowned. "And those things have any correlation to each other how?"

"They don't, they're just all interesting facts."

"Ri-ight."

"And they're all England related."

"Okay."

Tessa smiled fondly at the building. "I like this house."

"Um..."

"Should I stop talking?"

"That would be a good idea."

"Want to go inside?"

"What about our luggage?"

"Don't worry, while we've been inspecting the house, Stephenson has taken the opportunity to take our things to our rooms. Shall we go?"

"Oh, okay then."

She had chosen the house, Tessa told Mary, because it was firm and well-build, likely to withstand whatever was thrown at it. It was also secluded; Tessa could be herself more when distanced from humans.

"Those weren't the only reasons, though." Tessa said over dinner. "I don't know why, but the moment I saw this house I just knew it would be this one I bought. I just, I don't know, _liked_ it."

Mary understood what she meant, to fall in love with a place, or a building, or an object, for no apparent reason, and she had to admit that the place had a weird kind of charm. She was especially in love with her room, with its bright teal walls and bedspread, and cream ceiling. The vibrant garishness was oddly attractive.


	7. Chapter 7

**Dainanashō!**

**AnonymousZGirl: Close, very close.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marina and the Diamonds or any of her songs.**

* * *

><p><strong>One hour<strong>

21:00 (British Summer Time)

He couldn't be thinking what he thought he was thinking, but he was. It was so stupid Rex wanted to cry, but, like the plan of a drowning sailor, he put all his effort into it. He had hidden his bag behind his bins and was now planning to sneak, invisible, into Fear Co. How he had come up with a plan so idiotic, had no idea, but he'd managed it.

Shaking with fear, he clambered over the fence, careful to avoid the barbed wire over the top of it. As soon as he touched down on the other side, he was off like a bullet across the grass verge towards the building.

_###_

21:03

Mary was bored, so terribly bored. She lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, wishing that Tessa would hurry up and put that plan into action. Whatever is was.

_###_

Tessa was pacing up and down in the kitchen, wondering if she should go and tell Boo the truth. That she knew almost nothing of what the plan was. That this was bad, that her immediate boss Kaarina Garrastazu had told her just how bad this was. That Garrastazu never exaggerated.

_###_

21:09

Rex had done it. He'd got into the building. Now all he had to do was find a door to England, which, according to the Monster Intelligence agencies, was where Randall had originally gone. All he had to do was work out which doors went to England without being caught. He couldn't bear to think of what might happen if he _was_ caught. Nothing good, he knew that much. So that was all he had to do, right? Right? Just find a door to England without being caught. Easy.

Yeah, right. If there was one thing this was _not_, it was easy. This was the most terrifying thing Rex had ever done in his entire life. It even beat the time he'd jumped, invisible, off the school roof in an attempt to loose his attackers, and that had been pretty scary.

Actually, that had been stupid. He could have climbed down the wall quite easily, but he hadn't been thinking. Like he wasn't thinking now. Surely there had to be a better alternative. Surely? But if there was, he couldn't think of it.

_Concentrate!_

He got back to work.

_###_

21:18

Mary looked up as Tessa entered. Tessa cleared her throat. "Do you suppose it's time for a music lesson?"

It was a measure of Mary's boredom that she agreed. Rolling off the bed, she took her instrument from its case, putting the mouthpiece in, and, out of habit, checked it for spit.

_###_

Stanhope, Durham, England. Rex had no idea if this was anywhere near where Randall had gone through, but did it really matter? England was a small country, right? It wasn't like he could afford to see if there was anywhere closer, anyway. It was this or nothing. The door began to open. Rex tensed.

_Just a little wider..._

As soon as the door was wide enough, he shot through the gap, past the monster coming the other way, – "Hey, did anyone else feel that breeze?" – and dived under the kid's bed.

_###_

21:19

"Airflow first, get your instrument warmed up." Tessa stepped into her role as a teacher, hiding her worry under her professional confidence. She's removed all make-up as soon as she'd got inside – along with her leg braces – and her natural blue complexion was so startling to look at that she hoped Boo couldn't see her anxiety through it.

_###_

21:22

As soon as Rex's breathing calmed down, he crept out from under the bed. He really hoped the windows weren't locked. They weren't.

_###_

21:25

"Tonguing, _tonguing! _Ta-ta-ta-taa, taa-ta-ta-ta! The three quavers are triplets, and they're _all staccato_. Try that bit again, starting at bar thirteen."

Mary screwed up her nose. There was something bothering Tessa, she could tell.

_###_

21:27

Once out of the streets, Rex instinctively climbed up the side if the highest building in view. He _had_ to find a way out of this village before he could relax his camouflage, or got stuck. Keeping his camouflage moving constantly took up a lot of effort, and he couldn't control it properly yet.

_###_

21:30

"You _never_ get those chromatic runs right first time!" Tessa said, exasperated.

Across the room, she saw Boo roll her eyes. "That will be because they're not chromatics? They're irregulars, which are way harder."

"Oh, you're right. They are, aren't they?"

_###_

21:37

He'd made it out of Stanhope. Now he was out of immediate danger, he relaxed and his brain started working again.

What was he doing? He couldn't possibly find Randall. There was no chance of that happening; he could be anywhere by now. And what was he planning to do if he did find him?

_Stupid!_

_###_

21:40

"That's it, pack up your instrument, lesson over and all that: I need an early night."

Mary allowed herself to relax; it was finally over. There was definitely something wrong with Tessa.

_###_

21:41

Boo had definitely realised that something was wrong, Tessa decided. She wished she was better at hiding her emotions.

_###_

21:42

The full stupidity of it all hit Rex like a herd of stampeding elephants as he searched for shelter. What had he been thinking? He had risked everything coming here, to the human world, and now he was stuck here with no plan, no supplies, nothing.

_###_

21:45

Mary was so bored. Where she lived it would only be half five in the afternoon, so she wasn't tired. She also lacked Tessa's ability to fall asleep at will. Her brain twitched feebly in her skull. For something to do, she changed into her pyjamas.

_###_

21:45

Rex wished his natural colour was less bright. It was hard to find a place he could safely relax and maybe sleep. The constant camouflage was exhausting and the adrenaline that had been coursing through his veins was fading into memory.

_###_

21:50

With nothing better to do, Mary found her ipod in her hand-luggage and put her ear-buds in. Flicking through the songs, she set the ipod to shuffle everything by Marina and the Diamonds, put it in her pyjama pocket, and got into bed.

_###_

21:52

Rex had made a compromise. He had decided that the copse of shrubs were thick enough to hide him. It may have been dark green, but he was too exhausted to care. If he didn't get rest soon, he would revert to orange anyway wherever he was and that would be worse. It was night, anyway, there weren't going to be many people outside.

_###_

21:55

_I was pulling out my hair_

_the day I got the deal._

_Chemically calm,_

_was I meant to feel happy that my life _

_was just about to change?_

_One life pretending to be_

_the cat who got the cream._

Mary rolled over and started singing along quietly to the music.

"_O__h, everybody said,_

_'Marina is a dreamer'._

_People like to tell you_

_what you're gonna be,_

_it's not my problem _

_if you don't see what I see"_

_###_

21:59

After seven minutes, Rex finally managed to find a comfortable position that concealed all of him, and waited for sleep.

_###_

22:00

_Primadonna girl, yeah  
>All I ever wanted was the world<br>I can't help that I need it all  
>The primadonna life, the rise, the fall<em>

_You say that I'm kinda difficult  
>But it's always someone else's fault<br>Got you wrapped around my finger, babe  
>You can count on me to misbehave<em>

_Primadonna girl,  
>Would you do anything for me?<br>Buy a big diamond ring for me?  
>Would you get down on your knees for me?<br>Pop that pretty question right now, baby_

_Beauty queen on a silver screen  
>Living life like I'm in a dream<br>I know I've got a big ego  
>I really don't know why it's such a big deal, though <em>

…

Slowly, slowly, Mary drifted of to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Octavum **

**And my exams are over! Whew. Well, I guess it could have been worse but I was stressing and revising like mad, especially for French – _Mon personnage préféré de Homestuck est Karkat Vantas car qu'il soit souvent en colère_ – and I spent ages revising trig and then that WASN'T EVEN IN THE STUPID EXAM but anyway.**

**Oh, and, hello and thank you to everyone who's started following this since I last uploaded.**

**Right, now I thought I'd better write some of Tessa's back-story because you're going to need to know this pretty soon, sooooo...**

* * *

><p><strong>Stories From the Past<strong>

Tessa fled silently across the MU campus. She wasn't supposed to be here – she was supposed to be in school, listening to Sir drone on and on about the history of Greece, as if they'd ever need to know anything about the human world – but she had to find out more about that cute boy she'd caught a glimpse of. She knew she was being a stalker, but she couldn't stop herself.

Pausing behind a tree, she wondered if anyone had noticed her. She honestly hoped not. Hauling herself fairly easily into its branches, she settled down in the thick foliage to wait. She was tempted to put her ear-buds in, but she needed to be on full alert. Stabilizing herself by wrapping her tentacles round the closest branches, she leaned back relaxing against a V in the trunk.

_###_

Half an hour later, Tessa was regretting not putting her ear-buds in. She was bored out of her mind and on the verge of calling it a day. At fifteen years old, she had more patience than most girls her age, but right now it was wearing thin. She was beginning to with she had just gone to school like any sensible monster would have, but Tessa had always been more impulsive than was good for her, and, like a love-sick puppy, just had to go and do this. Waltz straight into the campus to see the boy of her dreams.

Then, against all expectations, she saw him. Slim and graceful and gorgeously awkward. He wasn't wearing his glasses, but it was him all the same. Her hearts fluttered in her chest, suddenly out of time with each other, and she could feel herself blushing indigo.

_###_

About a week later, Tessa found herself once again in the branches of what she now considered to be her tree. She hadn't been to school at all since That Fateful Day, preferring instead to lounge in her tree, waiting and watching, but she knew it couldn't last. The school would be sure to contact her parents, and that would be it. No more creepy stalking for her. She couldn't let that happen. There was no way they were going to take her away from HIM. Since the first day, Tessa had found out a bit more about the boy. His name was Randall Boggs but went by Randy, he was a freshman, which explained why she hadn't seen him before, and he tended to hang out with his room-mate, Michael 'Mike' Wazowski, a small green blob of a guy who Tessa wasn't sure she liked.

She checked her watch, to discover that she was late – oops. She took her ear-buds out – since that first day, Tessa had always listened to music, and had discovered that it actually kept her more alert than otherwise – and slid down the trunk.

_###_

That evening, she lay on her bed, twirling Randy's glasses around by one arm. She hadn't stolen them, she told herself, he'd been the one to drop then in the bin. She'd seen him do it. If he didn't want them, surely it was better she got them than landfill. Her parent's conversation drifted up from below.

"I thing you should talk to her about it, Frank, because in all honesty, I don't feel up to confronting that girl. She's wilful and impulsive, and she tires me out!"

"Darling, are you sure that's not yourself you're describing?"

"Oh ha ha. Just go talk to her."

That didn't sound good.

She didn't hear her father walk up the stairs – it was from his side that she'd got her 'silent ninja powers' – but she did hear him knock.

"Tess, can I come in? You're mother wants me to talk to you."

Tessa forced her voice to remain neutral. "Yeah, okay."

He father entered and sat down on the edge of her bed. He cleared his throat. "How was school?"

Alarm bells started ringing. "Oh, you know, school-y."

"Oh really? Because the school rang earlier today. They wanted to know why you haven't been in school in a while. Over a week now."

Ah. "And you never considered the fact that the registers might be wrong?"

"Tessa."

"I mean, come one, your lack of faith in me is astounding. I've never missed school before in my life, why should you assume I've started now?"

"Tessa."

"Haven't you ever heard of the presumption of innocence? How you could ever suspect me of doing such a thing –"

"Tessa!"

"Okay, yes, I've been skipping school. Happy now?"

"Tessa, why would I be happy that you're skipping school, and, for instance, the registers _weren't_ in fact, wrong? But what I really want to know is why. Why _have_ you been skipping school?"

Tessa scowled. "I have my reasons."

"Which are?"

"Dad, I don't see why I should tell you about every moment of my entire life! I have my reasons, and can't we just drop it?"

"Tessa..."

"No!"

_###_

The next day found Tessa in school once more, much to her annoyance. Her father had agreed to stop questioning her if she agreed to stop skipping school. Her best friend JuLia was telling her about something, but she wasn't really listening. She was furious. How dare her father butt into her life? Didn't he realize how important this was to her? She was a teenager, not a little kid, and as such she needed her freedom. Why couldn't he respect that?

"Tess? Tessa? Earth to Tessa, what's _wrong_ with you?"

Tessa blinked. JuLia's two heads were staring at her, Ju's with a look of concern, Lia's with intense irritation. It had been Lia who'd spoken.

"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about something."

Lia gave her an _It'd better be good_ face, as Ju asked, "What about? Homework? Parents? Boys? You're blushing; it _is_ boys. Who? Spill!"

Tessa's face was hot, as she said, "No-one you'd know."

Ju wasn't one to give up easily, though. "Come on, who? I want to knoooooow!"

Tessa shifted her weight nervously. "Just some cute guy I happened to catch a glimpse of on the MU campus. His name's Randy."

"You _talked _to him?"

"Nah, I just, um, overheard someone else talking to him."

Lia's cynical nature took over. "Really? What were you doing on the MU campus anyway?"

"I never said _I _was on campus! So suspicious! Anyone might think you think I'm a stalker or something."

"Well, anyway, you still haven't told us why you were off school." Ju said, trying to change the subject. There was silence.

"Oh _Tessa._"

_###_

Tessa had worked out a routine. She would skip school once a fortnight, a different day each time so teachers wouldn't get suspicious. She would then spend that day on the MU campus, and the next day, Ju would pester her about it. She had almost completely ditched her tree in favour of following Randy around. He never saw her, though he got scarily close to it, once.

Tessa had been following him about ten metres behind, ready to slip into the crowd if needs be. She had looked away for a second, and when she looked back, Randy was gone. She had panicked – how could he have disappeared so quickly? – and looked around her desperately. Where _was _he?

After what seemed like eternity, but was probably only two or three seconds, Randy had _appeared_ right next to her. Startled, she had jumped, but he didn't appear to notice her. He had just gone straight back to Mike, leaving Tessa blinking behind him. Ever since then, she'd kept her eyes on him at all time.

_###_

Randy could camouflage himself against any background! Tessa honestly didn't understand why she was surprised, it would explain how he'd disappeared like that. This was sooo coooooool!

_###_

It was a year later when Tessa was finally approached by the MSS. They had been watching her for a while, and since concealing oneself from a guy who could turn invisible at will was not easy, they had decided she would be suitable for the job.

What exactly the job was, she was yet to find out.

* * *

><p><strong>Writing teen Tessa was weird. She's weird, her plans are weird...<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**I have now officially ran out of different languages. Chapter Nine it is, then. Heh, Tessa makes toast like my mum...**

* * *

><p><strong>Back to the present<strong>

Mary half-opened her eyes, allowing the teal light to filter through them. For a second she was confused – where was she? – and then she remembered. She was in England. Again. What was the pull of this country? She had no idea.

He checked her watch: 12:18 BST. _How_ long had she been asleep?! More than fourteen hours, probably. She must have been horribly jet-lagged. Scrubbing her eyes, she slid out of bed to get ready. Selecting a loose shamrock-green t-shirt and orchid-purple jeans, she headed for the en-suite. The shower, sink, and even the toilet looked expensive. How rich _was_ Tessa?

One fifteen-minute shower later, Mary was ready. Her mind buzzed, and she felt more awake than she had in days. Grabbing some blue socks from her suitcase, she pulled them on and went downstairs.

There was a delicious smell coming from the kitchen, and Mary went to investigate. Crossing through the small dining room, she found Tessa frying eggs, mushrooms and bacon. Mary blinked.

"Breakfast? In the afternoon?"

"Hey, I woke up late too, and I haven't have a full English breakfast in over a year. Get the toast out the oven, will you?"

Mary grabbed the oven-gloves and took out the tray. "No toaster?"

Tessa shook her head. "Don't trust them."

"Why not?"

"Do you know how many house-fires are caused by toasters?"

"Oh."

"Put the toast over there, and hand me those tomatoes."

_###_

After breakfast, Mary went out to explore the grounds. As grounds went, they weren't extensive, but Mary had nothing better to do. She was walking around the back of the manor when she heard the noise. It was a scuffling noise, like squirrels or birds, but louder, and from a bigger area. She supposed it could be an army of squirrels, but wouldn't she be able to see an army of squirrels, and she could see nothing. This in itself was enough to put her on edge.

There was skittering sound, and a spray of gravel. Mary reached for her bag, only to find it wasn't on her shoulder; she had left it in her room. _Idiot!_ Side stepping over to the nearby fountain, she scooped up a handful of water, and threw it. Nothing. Whatever had been there was now gone. Mary turned and ran back to the house.

_###_

"Are you sure?"

"Um, yes? I don't know anyone else who can turn invisible, do you?"

"Just because I don't know anyone doesn't make it possible."

"But what are the chances of it being anyone else?"

"Minimal, I grant you, but it doesn't sound like Randall to just run away like that."

Mary frowned. "I guess not."

Tessa sighed. "Boo, have I ever told you about my MSS training?"

Mary shook her head. Tessa never talked about it, and Mary had always assumed it was a secret. Tessa cleared her throat, and began.

_###_

"_I was sixteen and a half when I was approached. Even so, I still knew it wasn't a decision I wanted to rush; say 'yes' and you're in for life, no backing out. The representatives talked to my parents about taking me out of normal education to go through special training. My dad was thrilled, mainly because he was a scarer at Monsters Inc and felt that by interacting with the human world, I was in a way continuing the family business. My mum, on the other hand, was big on getting me a decent education. They argued. I hated those arguments. I would lie upstairs on my bed, listening to them shouting at each other._

_ "Eventually, they came to the conclusion that they were fine with it, so long as I was. I agreed, mainly because my I was struggling in all my school-work bar music, and this was a good opportunity for a future. My dad was delighted, my mum less so._

_ "Anyway, I was put in a class with a few others: Magnus Vadas, Kaarina Garrastazu, Rachele Hadaway, Laird Dalton, Scarlett Nixon and a few others. Kaarina was by far the most talented, and quickly moved up to a higher class. I never saw her again, until two years ago, when she replaced my immediate boss. Laird was the eldest, and had been kept down because he was unable to pass his practical exams. He was clever though, and I heard he found a desk job planning recovery and reconnaissance missions. Rachele was pretty smart, and we quickly became friends, but I digress._

_ "The point is, in one lesson, we learned that certain situations require you to ditch the textbook and go with your gut. Our teacher told us that one of the main causes of MSS agent fatalities was the inability to do that. You see, when certain reactions are drummed into you for different circumstances, it's hard to break the habit without feeing suddenly and completely alone. As long as you follow the textbook, you have something to lean on. Take that away, and you suddenly start feeling very lost._

_ "We were told to go into a building, a set designed to mimic a possible situation we could get into. This was normal; something we did at least once a week and were all used to. We usually would all go in, in groups of five, each to a different set. I was normally pretty confident; follow the textbook in these situations and you'd be fine._

_ "But this time was different. We were told to go in the one set, one at a time, at five minute intervals. As per usual, we would be watched through a series of CCTV cameras, but this time, there was a catch. As well as the normal stuff that would be going on in the set – get in, stay unseen for a full hour while gleaning information and then getting back out again – we would also have to watch out for cameras._

_ "That was the thing: how did you tell the difference between the normal CCTV cameras and the 'enemies' ' cameras? Would they look different? It wasn't a situation we would ever actually get into, of course, but with the exception of Laird, we were all newbies, and it was a whole lot safer than some other situations they could have put us in._

_ "Anyway, I could go into detail about the whole task, and our completion of it, but the short of it is, all the cameras looked almost identical from the outside. We all failed. On our own, the idea was to see if we could come up with more varied ideas. Some people just stuck to the textbook rules and tried to avoid all cameras. Thing was, you couldn't; there were too many. You had to take that risk. Others threw caution to the wind and did what they normally did: ignored the cameras. _Of course_ they also failed; they never even had a chance. Laird had a good plan, but his natural clumsiness stopped it from working._

_ "Afterwards, we reviewed the tapes, and our scores. Laird got the highest score, for once, because it was obvious what his intention had been. Also, as he'd been kept down, he already knew roughly the sort of thing he was supposed to be doing._

_ "If you stayed where you were when you entered for a few minutes, you could work out which cameras were shorter than the others. The normal cameras were six inches by two by two-and-a-half. The 'bad' ones were five. Thing is, there wasn't time to do that for every camera, even if we knew what was different. The cameras would have caught you. You had to just go, 'oh, something about that camera looks off' and hope you were right. Laird had the right idea, but was sadly lacking in balance. He was in the set for about ten minutes before he tripped and fell right in the view of a 'bad' camera."_

_###_

"The point?"

Tessa sighed again. "The point I'm trying to make is, something about your presumption that that was Randall feels off, and I'm going with my gut about it."

_###_

Rex was out of breath. As soon as he'd heard someone approaching, he'd gone camouflaged and tried to stay still, but his tail had twitched in anxiety, and the girl had heard him. As soon as he'd confirmed this, he had turned and ran. Out of the corner of his eye, he'd seen her throw something in his direction, but didn't stop to see what is was. He hadn't stopped until he was far away.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten!**

**While I'm doing this, can I just clarify something I though was obvious? I am English and will therefore spell words the English way. Sure, Tessa texting using UK English when she's based in the US was a little odd..., but my excuse for that is that having spent quite a bit of time in England, she slipped into an old habit; after all, who really double-checks spelling while texting?:)**

**That said, 'practise' is only the verb, so that might actually be something I have to work on.**

**Don't think I don't appreciate constructive criticism; it just annoys me when I can no longer correct the chapters with mistakes because they've been up too long.**

**...When you see mistakes, TELL ME AS SOON AS YOU SPOT THEM. I do get people to proof-read my chapters first before posting them up here, but that ****_won't_**** eliminate everything.**

**Yeah.**

**Phase One: Gecko-Proofing**

"What's that?"

Tessa moved out the way. "See for yourself, it arrived yesterday evening."

It was the next day, and they were in the basement. Tessa had instantly gone over to a pile of what looked like cans of spray-paint. Mary moved forward and picked one up and read the label: "Multi-Purpose Teflon Coating." She looked up at Tessa. "What's this for?"

"Garrastazu ordered the stuff. We're supposed to coat the walls, windows, cars and other vertical surfaces in it."

"Why?"

"I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty certain it has something to do with geckos."

"Geckos?!"

"Yes, geckos."

"What do geckos have to do with anything?"

"You may not have noticed, but Randall's ability to walk on walls is similar to that of geckos. Gecko toes have special adaptations that allow them to adhere to most surfaces without the use of liquids or surface tension. About 60% of gecko species have adhesive toe-pads, which have been gained and lost repeatedly over the course of gecko evolution.

"The spatula-shaped setae arranged in lamellae on gecko footpads enable attractive van der Waals' forces between the β-keratin lamellae/setae/spatulae structures and the surface. The setae on the feet of geckos are also self-cleaning and will usually remove any clogging dirt within a few steps. Teflon, which has very low surface energy, is more difficult for geckos to adhere to than many other surfaces."

Mary blinked. "So basically, Randall's a gecko, and geckos can't stick to Teflon, so you're hoping Randall can't, either. I'm pretty sure he'll still be able to climb up ivy."

"The outer walls are smooth and ivy-free, and if he can't get past that, the rest won't matter. And no, he's not a gecko; geckos don't have eye-lids."

"How do you know so much about geckos?"

Silence.

_###_

Three hours later, aching and sore, they had successfully finished spraying the wall going round the perimeter of the grounds. It was hard work, bending down to get the bottom of the wall, making sure you didn't miss anything, getting the top of the wall. Tessa was especially stiff, as she had to be in her human disguise.

"Right," she said, straightening up, back clicking as she did so."_I'm _going in to make lunch; you can start work on the bottom windows if you want to, or recover in your room, I don't mind."

"I'll go recover." Mary moaned. "I think I've dislocated my spine."

_###_

After a moderate lunch of salad, smoked cheese and crackers – Tessa was big on light, healthy meals – they were back to work, spraying the windows and two cars. Phase One: Gecko-proofing was half-complete.

_###_

Rex was exhausted, aching and hungry. He had found a stream – unbeknownst to him, called Allerton Burn – so he wasn't thirsty, but the water tasted muddy and he wasn't sure how good it was for him. He also hadn't eaten in over twenty-four hours, and his stomach felt uncomfortably empty. He needed nutrition, and fast. He would have to risk it. Go back into the human town and steal food.

_###_

That evening, Mary lay in her room as Tessa worked outside, attaching infra-red cameras around the grounds and house. She had wanted to help, but Tessa had insisted she get some sleep. Not that she could sleep – she was still too jet-lagged to fall asleep before ten. Instead she listened to music and stared at the ceiling. There wasn't a TV in the entire mansion, and Mary was bored out of her mind. Tessa had offered her laptop if Mary wanted to use it, but it was in Tessa's room, on the other side of the house, and Mary didn't feel like walking all that way and back. Eventually, though, she realized it might be a good idea.

Slipping out of bed, she paused her music, took out her ear-buds and stepped out onto the landing. Walking along the corridor, she jumped at every creak of the old house. Reaching Tessa's room, she picked up the laptop from Tessa's bed and made her way back to her room. After walking for ten minutes, she realized she was lost. She was confused: How could you get lost in a house? Forcing herself to stay calm, she tried to make her way back to Tessa's room. Succeeding in that, she tried again to get back to her room, this time successfully. Shaking and slightly on edge, she snuggled into the covers up to her chin as she powered up the laptop.

Checking her e-mails, she realized her mother had e-mailed her twice already. Composing a quick reply, she lay back on her bed. She was exhausted from the day of hard work, but she still couldn't sleep.

_###_

Rex had done it! Having retreated to the safety of the edge of a field, he proceeded to eat ravenously, knowing he would regret it later. The sun was setting, and he curled up, tail wrapped around his body in an attempt to combat the night chill. As a lizard, he couldn't regulate his body temperature, and got cold very quickly. He was miserable and freezing, and he was stuck in a world that wasn't his. What had his life become?


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven is here!**

**While looking through my previous AN, I noticed there were no 10th review digital cookies even though I clearly remember typing them, so Smeagolia: (::) (::) (::)**

* * *

><p><strong>Phase Two: Lookout<strong>

Scarlett Nixon arrived through Tessa's closet at 10:25 the next morning. Tessa, though not expecting this sudden intrusion, greeted her politely and enquired about her mission. Mary was waiting downstairs for her martial arts training, and the sound carried easily down the chimney.

"Oh, Tess, is that all you have to say to your old friend?" Scarlett laughed easily.

Tessa growled internally; she and Scarlett had never got on especially well, but this was important. At least, she assumed it was. Until Scarlett told her, she would have no idea if it actually was. Meanwhile, Scarlett was walking round the room, inspecting tabletop, bedspread, clutter, everything, with a look of faint pity. "How can you stand this dump? Such a mess!"

"Are you going to answer my question or not?" Tessa snapped.

Scarlett gave a dramatic sigh, and complied. "Apparently you need someone to watch the camera feed. I was a little reluctant at first; such trivial jobs are usually below me, but when I was told the entire story, how this is more than one escaped convict, I agreed to it. It seemed as if it needed someone more of my calibre than yours, after all."

Scarlett's expression seemed to imply she knew something Tessa didn't but there was no way Tessa was going to give her the satisfaction of digging deeper. "Well get to work then; I have a student to teach."

"You're teaching your charge stuff? How cute." Scarlett didn't move.

"Well?"

Scarlett gave Tessa a condescending look. "In case you've forgotten, I don't know my way around here; you're going to have to show me to the room."

_###_

About five minutes later, Mary looked up from her book to see a seriously irritated Tessa walk into the 'hall'.

"What was that about?"

Tessa took several deep breaths before replying. "Oh, not much. Just a colleague who will be monitoring the CCTV from now on.

"You two don't seem to get along."

Tessa started visibly. "You could _hear_ us?"

"Uh-huh."

"Oh." Tessa thought about that for a moment, then motioned for Mary to get into position. They were wearing normal clothes; Tessa had told Mary there was no point learning to rely on certain outfits if she wasn't going to be wearing them when she needed to defend herself.

_###_

Upstairs, Scarlett, groaned softly, massaging her eyeballs with her tentacles. Though she had nothing in particular against Tessa, their personalities clashed to horribly for them to ever get on. She knew she shouldn't goad Tessa, especially on a mission like this, but she couldn't help it. Tessa's emotionally devoid welcome and the state of the room had left her feeling awkward and out of place. This wasn't a place she could ever belong.

She turned to the monitors covering the top half of the wall above the desk and resigned herself to complete and utter boredom. If only she hadn't botched up That One Mission, she wouldn't even be here, but she had, and here she was.

That was when she saw something move.

_###_

Rex had decided, more out of curiosity than anything else, to go back to the house he'd found the other day. Sure it was risky, but the security it would offer him it he could stay concealed was just too tempting; it was a small slice of civilization, yet not nearly as daunting as the town.

He encountered a problem, however, when he tried to scale the wall; it didn't matter what gripping techniques he applied, his feet slid right off. Frustrated, he went round to the gate.

_###_

"What was that supposed to be?"

Mary grinned up sheepishly. "I was trying to do a spinning kick."

Tessa rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you? No unnecessary movement. Not only does it give your opponent and opportunity to intercept, but it also throws you off balance, so even if you hadn't fallen over on your own accord just then, I could have done so for you with ease."

"But it looks so cool!"

"It's meant to be _efficient_, not cool, and anyway, someone who can beat their opponent in less than a minute with moves so fast they can barely be seen winds up looking way more impressive than someone who insists on twirling around the place, even if they do manage to stay upright."

Mary pulled a face. "Meh."

While they were talking, Scarlett had entered the room. Now she cleared her throat.

"There's something on the monitors that you might want to see."

Tessa straightened up, wary. "What kind of thing?"

Scarlett shrugged. "See for yourself, but it looks a little lizard-like in shape."

_###_

Tessa squinted at the infra-red screen. "That doesn't look like Randall."

Mary frowned. "Yes it does."

Tessa shook her head. "Randall's bigger than that, and look at the head."

Tessa was right, Mary saw. Instead of three fronds on its head, this creature had only one.

"It could be the angle." she said, but no, the lizard turned a little and still just one frond. "Okay, maybe two of them don't emit heat?"

"They do."

It was Tessa who spoke and Mary rounded on her. "How would you know? It's entirely possible!"

Tessa winced internally at her slip-up. "I mean, how likely is that?"

"Well who else could it be?"

Scarlett coughed. "I've done a search on the MSSS database for lizard-like appearance and camouflage abilities."

Tessa stared. "How did you get clearance?" Even Tessa could access the MSS and CDD databases to search for dangerous humans and monster criminal offenders, but the MSSS database contained the identities of everyone born in Monstropolis.

Scarlett looked haughty. "Let's just say that just because I'm slumming here with you doesn't mean I've lost my high rank privileges."

Tessa kept her face neutral. "Right. Of course. So what were you're results?"

Scarlett lifted her tablet up and read off the names. "Randall Boggs – obviously, Lulu Cork, Kabra Jovanas, Rheanne Martin and Yuan Zane. I haven't got clearance to access minors, though, so it could still be someone we don't know about."

Mary blinked. "So few?"

Scarlett turned to Mary. "Camouflage abilities are very rare, and far less than one per cent of the population have them."

Mary nodded, understanding.

Tessa cleared her throat. "Well I'm going down there. Watch me on the monitors."

And with that, she left.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve. This chapter took forever to write.**

* * *

><p>Tessa strode down the stairs, pulling on her customised three-eyed infra-red goggles, the feeling of apprehension rising in her chest. She didn't like not knowing things, and she wasn't sure what to make of their unknown guest, either. She pulled the side door open, not wanting to alert the intruder, and slipped out.<p>

_###_

Scarlett's many eyes followed the screens, watching both Tessa and the intruder's progress. Mary was leaning against the desk, also following Tessa's progress.

_###_

Rex slipped easily through the gate bars, feet crunching on the gravel. He winced at the noise and quickly moved to the grass, awkwardly spraying gravel to the sides as he did so. He then made his way towards the fountain. If he avoided the gravel path around it, he wouldn't get caught.

_###_

"They've gone round the other side." Scarlett muttered, frustrated. "And Tessa's left the radio here." That was the reason why the girl wasn't in a higher position, she thought moodily, she couldn't be trusted to remember anything. But there was nothing they could do now.

_###_

As Tessa emerged into the daylight, she realised several things. First, the intruder was nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that they had definitely been by the front gate. Second, she'd left her radio inside. Third, if she lifted up the goggles, she could see that the gravel on the front driveway had been recently disturbed. She began to follow the direction the intruder seemed to have gone in.

_###_

Rex lapped water from the fountain like a dog. It might get him caught, but the water lacked the muddy taste of the stream water, and he was thirsty. Once his thirst was quenched, he became aware of how hungry he was, and the water sloshing around his empty stomach stopped feeling quite so satisfying. He wondered how easy it would be to sneak into the kitchens, if he could even find them. He left the fountain to walk round the house.

_###_

As Tessa rounded the corner, she could have sworn she saw a splash of blue heat through her goggles, turning the next corner. She hurried after it.

_###_

Mary felt a giggle building in her chest as she watched the cameras. The whole situation outside felt faintly ridiculous. Scarlett, on the other hand, just looked incredibly exasperated. She was also mumbling under her breath and Mary was sure she heard the word 'incompetent' once or twice. Eventually, Mary picked up Tessa's radio and turned to leave the room, only to be stopped by Scarlett.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Outside." Mary replied. "If I go round the house the other way, I might be able to stop the intruder. That, and it might be useful to have someone with a radio outside."

"No." Scarlett said. "You're most probably the one they want, and I refuse to deliver you into enemy hands. Is this really the sort of thing Tessa would let you do?"

"Uh, yeah?" Mary still didn't see the problem. Scarlett just shook her heat and muttered, "So irresponsible!" under her breath before turning back to Mary.

"Not on my watch." She said firmly, as if that were the end of it. Mary, though, stubborn as ever, wasn't about to give up.

"Why not? It's not like I don't have a plan or anything, and Tessa's almost certainly going to loose the intruder at this rate."

"I'd rather we loose the intruder than you. _You're_ my and Tessa's first priority, _not_ whoever's sneaking around outside!" Scarlett wasn't taking any chances, not after what had happened last time.

_###_

Rex had found a promising looking door, but he also felt like he was being followed. Twice he was convinced he heard breathing behind him. Of course, that was impossible; he was invisible, and it wasn't as if he'd heard footsteps, either. It was probably the wind and his own fears. Still, he didn't feel much like taking chances, and he glanced around nervously, before trying the handle.

_###_

"Okay, they're definitely trying to get inside. That means we aren't going to loose them – probably, anyway – but you're going back to your room and locking the door. Make sure the windows are also locked, and the curtains drawn."

Scarlett expected Mary to protest, and was surprised when she said nothing. Turning her head to see why, she realised the Mary was gone, and so, she noticed, was Tessa's radio. She swore violently and snatched up hers.

_###_

Mary had one hand on the door-handle when Tessa's radio crackled into life. "Mary, I have no idea what you think you're doing," Scarlett snapped, "But you are going to go to your room and lock the door. Right. Now."

"Nuh-uh." Mary replied. She knew how the radio worked – Tessa had shown her how to use it once. "I'm going out there."

"Mary," Scarlett growled, "I'm not going to repeat myself. Get back in here. In room. Lock door. Now."

"I'm glad you're not going to," Mary said. "Because that would be useless and also kinda inconvenient, what with trying to be stealthy and all. Also, my bedroom door doesn't lock."

"I'm serious Mary, you are going to get back up here and – Wait, did you seriously say your door doesn't lock?"

"Yup."

_###_

Scarlett felt numb. She shouldn't have been surprised, really. While she couldn't deny that Tessa's hearts were probably in the right place, the girl could be incredibly irresponsible. It wasn't that she meant to be, but she could overlook obvious flaws in her plans, and wasn't the smartest monster on the planet. Scarlett wouldn't have been surprised if it was Tessa's fault that Mary had the reckless attitude she did. Tessa had probably put it in her head that she was good enough to face down anything – _idiot girl_.

Mary had already left the house, Scarlett saw, but there was no use trying to stop her. The whole situation was out of her hands.

She just hoped her boss saw it that way.

_###_

The door was locked. The grubby sash window in the door, however, was ajar at the top. Rex tried to climb up but, once again, his adhesive ability mysteriously failed him. There was no ivy around the door either. He managed to get a grip on the window-frame, but something was jamming the window, stopping it from opening it further. He had wasted enough time, Rex thought. There had to be more than one side-door.

_###_

It was only once Mary had closed the door behind her that she realized she'd left her more high tech infra-red goggles inside, and only had her lighter, portable pair jammed in her back pocket. They would have to do, she thought, pulling the strap over her head. She did have her trusty rounders bat, though, so it wasn't like she wasn't armed. She genuinely didn't get Scarlett's problem. Now if she was coming out here, unarmed, and without goggles, then she would understand, but she wasn't! Scarlett would see!

Everything would be just fine.

* * *

><p><strong>Don't tempt fate, Mary. Don't tempt fate. I'm on Scarlett's side with this one.<strong>

**...Or I would be if we didn't all know that it's just Rex.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen **

**Some people have been wondering when Rex will be fed. Don't worry; I haven't forgotten his hunger, and he will be fed sometime in the next few chapters.**

* * *

><p>The intruder must still be moving, Tessa thought, because there was no other explanation for not catching up with them yet. She kept moving, head moving, eyes scanning the area the way she'd been taught.<p>

_###_

Tessa had been going round the house clockwise, the same way as the intruder, so Mary went round anticlockwise, rounders bat gripped firmly in her shaking hand. She was scared – more scared than she wanted to admit to herself, and she knew several things could go wrong. Not for the first time, it struck her how large the house really was. She realized that she had only a vague idea of what she was doing, but she hoped it would be enough. After all, Tessa had told her more detailed plans generally went out the window in situations like this.

She felt Tessa's owl necklace against her collarbone. Would Tessa think she was being too rash? She doubted it – she had thought everything through, and she had her goggles and bat. All the same, she wasn't sure.

_###_

Rex halted suddenly when the human girl he had seen before rounded the corner in front of him. In one hand she carried a club or bat of some sort, and her eyes were obscured by a pair of sturdy-looking black goggles with what seemed to be opaque lenses.

More disturbing than that was the fact that she appeared to be looking directly at him. Of course, that was impossible, but she certainly looked as if she was, if she even had eyes. She wasn't looking at him, Rex decided. He was invisible.

The girl seemed to be heading straight for him, though, so, heart thudding, he carefully moved to the side to avoid her walking into him. She seemed, to his bemusement, to falter, make as if to move, so he would once again be in her way, then think better of it and carry on her original course. His brain started whirring. She couldn't see him... could she? It seemed impossible at first thought, but she _was_ wearing weird goggles. Who knew what she could see? But then, if she could see him, why wasn't she freaking out? It made no sense.

All the same, Rex was on edge, which was why, when the girl, now parallel to him, suddenly swung her bat at him, so fast he barely had time to see the blow coming, he was ready. He turned and shot away. He would probably have made it out, too, if his path hadn't been blocked by someone else.

_###_

Tessa had just turned the corner when what seemed through her bulky goggles to be a blur of blue crashed straight into her. Blue. That meant somewhere around twenty-two degrees Celsius, or seventy-one-point-six to roughly seventy-three degrees Fahrenheit, a roughly normal gecko temperature, give or take a degree or two. This was why Tessa liked her goggles. They were colour, so, unlike Boo's 'travel pair', which only saw in shades of orange, you could make a better estimate to the actual temperature.

Tessa just had time to think all this before the intruder recovered from their shock, and darted to their right. Tessa's training finally kicked in, and she threw herself on top of them. There was a brief scuffle, and then it was over.

_###_

Rex stopped struggling; there was no point. Everything had stopped making sense: The human had special goggles that allowed her to see through his disguise, and a monster – what was another monster doing here? – with a bulky, headset type thing that let her see him, had tackled him to the ground. What's more, the monster and the human seemed to be working together. Rex just couldn't compute it, so he stopped trying.

_###_

Mary wandered over to find Tessa cuffing all six of the monsters limbs together in pairs. She didn't know where Tessa had got the cuffs from, but she could guess.

"Need any help?" she asked.

Tessa shook her head. "Nah, I got this." She turned back to the lizard, who had given up camouflage, Mary realized as she pushed her goggles up. He – if he was a he – was orange in colour, although the tip of his single frond was a little redder than the rest of his body. He didn't look very old to her.

_###_

Roughly fifteen minutes later, they were all inside. The boy – who's name, they discovered, was Rex – had agreed not to resist, and was now sitting in one of Tessa's armchairs. All eyes were on him, apart from Scarlett's. Scarlett was watching the cameras and fuming. This was both her and Tessa's fault, Mary decided.

It was after Rex had agreed to cooperate, and they had all been heading inside. Scarlett had been waiting at the door, fuming. Tessa had halted, confused.

"What?"

Scarlett had narrowed her eyes, all ten of them. "Isn't there something you should be telling Mary?"

"Oh." Tessa had turned to Mary. "Thanks for your help back there, I really needed it."

Scarlett had looked incredulous. "You're actually _encouraging_ her to put herself in danger? You're whole mission is to keep her _safe!_"

"And that's what I'm doing! I'm keeping her safe in the long run. She needs to know how to look after herself, and that's what I've been teaching her to do."

"That is _not_ your job! Your job is to keep her _out_ of danger, not encourage her to dive head-first _into_ it!"

"Well, it's not _your_ job to tell me what to do! _You _just watch the camera feed."

"You know what? Fine! You're right, it isn't my job, so I can't get blamed for it. I'll be upstairs watching the feed, and when Garrastazu finds out how irresponsible you are, I can say that it had nothing to do with me!"

Scarlett had then swung round and stormed up the stairs, and that brought them to where they were now, sitting in an awkward silence.

Tessa spoke first. "So, talk. What are you doing here?"

Rex shifted uneasily. "It's complicated."

"So start talking."

_###_

One full explanation later, Tessa was looking thoughtful. Mary looked faintly incredulous.

"You cannot be serious." she muttered. "Why is everything related to Randall? How likely is that?"

"Statistics mean nothing to the individual." Tessa said. "As unlikely as this situation is, that doesn't mean Rex was lying." She turned to Rex. "Unless you _were_ lying, of course."

"Why would I?" Rex said miserably.

_###_

An hour later, Rex was sprawled over a bed in a smallish room. The curtains had blackout linings, and the window didn't open. The door was locked. The other three obviously still didn't trust him, even if they had accepted his story for now.

From another room in the house, he could hear the human girl playing her instrument – a piccolo trumpet. She was pretty decent, Rex had to admit. The reason he knew it was her was because he could hear the other two arguing in the room opposite his.

"You want to send him back? Are you crazy? That'll just make things worse! He'll be bullied!"

"And your plan is for him to stay here, is it? Tessa, he'll just be a drain on resources, and he'll jeopardise the mission."

"If you're so worried about jeopardising the mission, what about everything he now knows?"

"That's nothing to do with us. We hand him over to Garrastazu, she consults people higher up, and they make a judgment on what to do, not us! This is not your decision to make! Do you seriously think he'll be better off _here_, in the human world?"

The shouting continued, and Rex shifted positions. He still hadn't eaten, and he was starving.

_###_

Randall slipped, invisible, through the crowd towards the door. This was it; after several days of searching, he had located the building. This was his only chance for help.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen **

**Mealworms are completely edible, but apparently taste horrible if not fried. Ants, on the other hand, are supposed to be delicious (I wouldn't know: I'm allergic to them). Merry belated Christmas, everyone!**

* * *

><p>At roughly half-seven, someone knocked on Rex's door. Since he hadn't heard any footsteps, he assumed it was one of the two monsters. He was correct; it was the red monster, the one he didn't know the name of. Her eyes were all narrowed, and her mouth pursed. In two of her arm-tentacles, she held a tray.<p>

"Food." she snapped, holding the tray out in front of her. He took it off her and she whirled round and left, locking the door behind her once more.

Rex looked down at the tray. It held two pieces of toast, a small pot of deep-fried caramelised mealworms, a quarter of a mozzarella ball and a can of some sort of human soda called Sprite. Rex, having had nothing to eat all day, wolfed the food down hungrily, and sipped his Sprite. It didn't taste bad.

It was still light outside, but a thick barrier of grey clouds had covered the sun, making everything gloomy, and it was drizzling. Rex turned on the light and drew the curtains.

_###_

Mary was sprawled on her bed, Tessa's laptop in front of her, listening to music on her iPod, which was set to shuffle film music. At the moment, she was listening to Arrietty's Song. She was on Tumblr, but her mind wasn't really on it. She kept thinking about the Rex. She didn't know why, but he intrigued her. His life was so different to hers that Mary, without realizing it, had become obsessed, not with Rex, but with what it must be like to be him. To be bullied constantly, enough to want to escape from his world altogether. To be able to turn invisible at will, to walk on walls, the list was endless. His eyesight too, Mary realized. The evening before, Tessa had been going on about how geckos could see colour in the dark, when human eyes in the same conditions could only see in black and white.

_###_

Tessa lay back on her bed. Scarlett was right, and she couldn't deny it. They would have to send Rex back. As much as she hated to admit it, Scarlett had always been the most rational student in the class. It was one of the reasons they didn't get on much, Tessa was what the teachers called a 'gut agent' – someone who didn't always think things through thoroughly, but instinctively managed to just succeed in whatever the task was. Scarlett was the opposite, always studying her options to see which one would logically be the best choice. They were both fairly good students in their separate methods, and had held a fierce rivalry, which had quickly become hatred.

Tessa could still remember when Scarlett discovered how she'd got into the school. Everyone knew that both of Scarlett's parents worked for the MSSS. Her father was a high-up MSS strategist, and her mother a valuable HAS field agent. She wasn't the only one with family connections, either: Magnus Vadas' father was a mission planner, and his aunt was one of the recruiters, and even Rachele's parents worked for the CDD. Tessa had a bit of a name to her, as her father, 'Frightening' Frank McCay, was a fairly well-known scarer, but Scarlett just couldn't understand how she'd been recruited, and had made it her job to find out.

Tessa remembered waking up one morning to find Scarlett already sitting up in the bed opposite, a smirk on her face. Tessa's suspicions had instantly been aroused. Scarlett had been increasingly smug and annoying for the last week, as if she were getting closer to finding out, and now it looked like she had.

Tessa had pushed herself into a sitting position, and glared over at Scarlett. "What?" she had growled.

Scarlett's smug smile had widened. "I've found out." she had said in a sing-song voice. "I know all about you and your stalker history."

Tessa's blood had gone cold. "Shut up."

Rachele had stirred in her bed and mumbled something incoherent, making Tessa freeze, then glance pleadingly at Scarlett.

"Oh, what was that? You don't want me to tell the others?"

Tessa had clenched her jaw. "Don't you dare-"

Scarlett had laughed. "Oh don't worry," she said. "I won't tell _anyone..._ yet."

"What do you _want?_"

"Oh, nothing right now. Don't worry though, I'll tell you as soon as I've thought of something."

_###_

Here he was, thought Randall, at the headquarters of an organisation so elusive that it had no name. This was no petty drug-smuggling gang; referred to in whispered tones – from one conspiracy theorist to another – as the Hidden Puppeteer or the Invisible Hand, this organisation held more power than the Monstropolis government. They had agents everywhere, determining the plans of governments all over both worlds and tweaking the arrangements, laws and political opinions to suit their purpose.

And now, thought Randall, he would be part of it.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen is divisible by 5, marks this fanfic's late one-year anniversary and incidentally is the first chapter of 2015. I'm gonna use this as an excuse to say thank-you to everyone who's faved and followed this story. I know it sounds really clichéd, but I love you all and I really couldn't have got this far without knowing that you cared!**

* * *

><p>Mary woke up smothered in the muggy feeling usually associated with spending too much time inside. She rolled to one side and reached for her iPod to check the time: 8:37 BST. She flopped out of bed and went searching for her watch, which had ended up on top of her suitcase on the other side of the room. She placed it on her bed and searched for something to wear. Eventually selecting heliotrope-purple shorts and a pink and yellow check shirt, Mary headed to the en-suite for a brisk shower.<p>

_###_

Rex was woken by the sound of water gurgling through the pipes in the walls of his room. For a moment he thought he was back home, but then he opened his eyes. It took him a panicked few seconds to remember where he was. Then he slumped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. He could hear someone singing, the sound muffled by the walls.

_###_

Tessa had woken up at 5:30 – a habit her training had drilled into her – but as she'd checked her messages for any new updates on the situation, only accessible using the computer in her room for security purposes, she had found her eyelids drooping. The stressful past few weeks had taken their toll on her, and when she opened her eyes again and checked the time, it was 8:45. She cursed herself angrily; falling asleep like that – and with her messages open, no less – was an incredibly stupid thing to do. Anyone could have entered her room and read them over her shoulder and though her training would have woken her up, there was no guarantee that an intruder couldn't escape with valuable information. It had been a horrible breach in security.

Starting a new message, Tessa typed a few lines and clicked send. She hadn't wanted to do this – Tessa by far preferred doing things on her own – but she had to; she couldn't carry on with a skeleton crew. This operation needed more agents. She knew Scarlett would approve and it rankled with her to do something the way her rival would, but she wasn't about to risk her job for some petty vendetta. She didn't know what it would mean for Rex, but she had no choice.

_###_

Scarlett also had woken up at 5:30, in her case with a bad headache and blurred vision courtesy of her stress levels. After assessing the situation, she had decided that her body – and mind – needed more rest and that there was no earthly reason for her to stay awake. Setting her phone alarm for 7:00, she had then rolled over and gone back to sleep. At 7:00, she had discovered that her headache had abated somewhat, and so she had sat up and started browsing through the news sites she had bookmarked, which was why when Tessa walked into the room, she found Scarlett sitting up in bed, tentacles tucked up around her, the screen of her phone about two inches from her face.

_###_

Tessa cleared her throat. Scarlett looked up from her phone. "Yes?"

"I sent Garrastazu a message. We need more agents."

Scarlett's eyes narrowed. "You mean _you_ need more agents. Why do you think _I'm_ here?"

"Look, I'm tired, I'm worn out, and I fell asleep with my messages open this morning; we need to up security!"

"You _what?!_ How incompetent are you?" Scarlett spluttered. "How could you just fall asleep? No, don't answer that. The point is, we don't need more agents. _I_ don't need more agents. In fact, if you really did fall asleep, then I could probably do with less agents! If you would just quit then we'd be fine!" She half fell out of bed in an effort to grab her laptop. "I'm going to message Garrastazu right now and tell her you were wrong."

As Tessa left, she couldn't help but feel perplexed; Scarlett's reaction was not what she'd expected at all. She'd expected her to gloat over Tessa's decision, not disagree with it so vehemently. She felt as if she should feel smug – she hadn't made a decision that Scarlett liked after all – but all she really felt was an odd sense of bewilderment; opposing caution like that was not like Scarlett at all. Scarlett loved caution and Tessa couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, there was something wrong.

_###_

Scarlett hit send perhaps more ferociously than was absolutely necessary. How could Tessa have gone behind her back like that? They were, after all, supposed to be a team, vendetta or no. And, more importantly, what would Garrastazu think of her? She'd already messed up once, and now Garrastazu would think she'd done so again.

_###_

Mary heard raised voices as she towel-dried her hair. Scarlett and Tessa again. She decided to shrug it off; she hadn't known Scarlett long, but she had known her for long enough to work out how much she and Tessa hated each other.

_###_

Randall stirred sleepily in his bed. The night before, he had been led to a room with a narrow, arrow-slit window, which was where he was now. They didn't trust him, obviously, but that was only to be expected. He had been told that they would send someone to speak to him in the morning, but he hadn't been told at what time. He knew why; the Invisible Hand was using tactics designed to disorient and confuse him, which was the best way to keep their secrets safe. He could only hope that he could persuade them to trust him.

_###_

A few hours later, Scarlett, sitting at the camera feed and checking her messages every few minutes, gave a start when her laptop bleeped. She had a message back from Garrastazu. Finally.

_I'm withholding sending more agents for now. _

_Don't make me regret my decision._

She breathed a sigh of relief. She had got through.


	16. Chapter 16

**First, I would like to say that I am so, so sorry for not posting this earlier because it has been finished for over a month now. Second, I'd like to pose you all a question: Do you think I should up the rating to T? I want replies for this, and not all form the same person either, because I want to know what ALL you readers think. Anyhow, Chapter Sixteen is when things ****are (finally) going to start going somewhere!**

Randall woke that morning to a sharp rap on the door. Without waiting for a response, the door was opened to reveal a grim-faced monster who scowled at Randall before barking, "Up. The boss wants to see you."

Randall stretched and got out of bed slowly; he wasn't about to let this monster see how scared he was. He tried for a faint smile, but wasn't sure how successful he was; he hadn't smiled in over fifteen years.

About ten minutes later, Randall found himself facing 'the boss', as the surly monster had put it; an organisation like this would have multiple bosses, and Randall got the feeling that this guy wasn't that much further up the food chain than his subordinates.

This 'boss' was a skinny fellow, with two pairs of stick-thin arms, each with multiple joints, and sharp spikes protruding from his shoulders. His flat-topped head was smothered in eyes, all narrowed at Randall. The thin-lipped mouth resting just above the collarbone opened.

"So apparently, you want to join us, then."

All of Randall's confidence disappeared when he heard that voice. It was so cold, so cruel, and Randall knew that this was not someone to upset; he wouldn't hesitate to terminate Randall's life if he did anything wrong. Not trusting himself to speak, Randall just nodded.

The eyes narrowed further. "And how do we know we can trust you? How do we know that you're not a spy?"

Randall pushed his shoulder back, doing his best to ignore the bubbles of anxiety rising in his stomach. "My name is Randall Boggs. I have suffered at the hands of the so called 'justice system', so I have no love for the Monstropolis government."

"And how do we know this isn't a trap? You wouldn't be the first person to cut a deal with the police: a few years of your prison sentence to infiltrate this place. I assure you that if you are, you won't be leaving the building alive."

Randall swallowed nervously. "I'm not an infiltrator."

"Prove it."

_###_

Mary came downstairs to Tessa staring at the mushrooms and tomatoes in the frying pan in front of her with a thoughtful expression on her face. She realised at once that something was wrong; the tomatoes were looking black and crispy.

"Something going on?"

Tessa shook her head. "No, not really."

She wasn't at all convincing, and Mary frowned. "You're burning breakfast."

Tessa blinked. "Oh, right."

Mary coughed. "Have you and Scarlett decided what to do about Rex yet?"

Tessa's hands flew to her temples. "Oh my goodness, I completely forgot about him; he'll need to eat, too! Boo, would you be a darling and give him all this? I can cook more for us." and so saying, she began to scrape the blackened food onto a plate.

Mary's frown deepened. "Are you sure you're okay? You don't really seem with it."

Tessa made an exasperated noise. "I'm fine, and hurry! Poor Rex; he must be starving."

_###_

Tessa wasn't okay; she felt a tumult of emotions crashing around in herself. Not only did she feel horribly compromised as an agent, but she was also confused as to what was wrong with Scarlett: why wouldn't she allow extra backup? It just didn't make sense.

Numbly, she started to fry some more tomatoes and mushrooms.

_###_

Rex heard footsteps to his room. He looked up as the door opened. It was the human girl, with a plate of burned food in one hand. Rex's stomach growled; burned it may be, but he was hungry.

The girl held out the plate awkwardly, and he took it. "Thanks."

She hopped from foot to foot. "Sorry it's burnt."

"S'okay."

The girl looked lost for a second, than she left, closing the door quietly and turning the key in the lock. Rex listened as her footsteps echoed around the empty landing, then began to eat.

_###_

"...I mean, she's the only human outside of this little organisation who knows about Monstropolis, I guess. That has to be important, right?"

The bony monster leaned forward, hands clasped.

"So you're saying you know where this girl is?"

Randall nodded.

"The girl who caused the major panic eleven years ago when she found her way back through her door?"

Another nod.

"And she remembers... all this?"

"She certainly seemed to."

"You saw her?"

Randall swallowed. "Briefly."

The boss may have been impressed. Or he may have been bored; it was hard to tell. "All right, I'm willing to give you a trial. You stay here, and I'll have people watching you to ensure you don't try anything, and I'll send my best team to her house. Agreed?"

"Uh, okay." Randall winced. _'Uh'? Really? _He should have just nodded, but it was too late now.

The boss smiled. "good."


	17. Chapter 17

**Finally, some action! (I would also like to apologise for taking so long; my buffer ran out and I had to rebuild it. Also, exams.)**

As Randall sat in his cell, the first niggling doubts began to set in. What if he were wrong? It was very unlikely, but there was still that minuscule chance that he had made some fatal error, and it would be just his luck if he had.

_###_

Addison Gibbs was bending down to load the dishwasher when she heard the kitchen door open behind her, and it took her several seconds to realise why this was wrong; it couldn't be Mary, because she was on her music trip, and it wasn't David, because she had heard him leave for work. The car had left and she hadn't heard it come back, which she would have if he had forgotten something.

As it was just dawning on her that something wasn't right, that someone who _wasn't supposed to be in the house _had just _opened the kitchen door,_ just as she began to turn around, she felt a sharp pinprick on the side of her neck. Instinctively, she gave a startled shriek. Her hand flew up to the affected spot – she heard the breakfast stuff smash against the floor – but it never reached it. Her vision was blurring and darkening, and her limbs felt heavy, as though she were falling, falling away from the world, into an ocean of darkness and confusion and hazy, half-formed thoughts...

_###_

Across the road, Magnus Vadas was on the move. He had seen the monsters enter the house (in plain daylight, no less! Did these people have no sense?) and had radioed his partners, Erikas Pac and Nadia Kozlov. Erikas was positioned in the back garden, specifically for ease of speed, and as such was the first defence. However, Magnus thought, he would probably like some backup, and so he quickly made his way over to the front door, which was still wide open.

Even as he stepped inside, he could hear the struggle in the kitchen. Erikas shouted something unintelligible and someone else grunted. Something smashed – it sounded like glass. Silently, Magnus moved towards the kitchen door, which had swung shut at some point during the fight. Stealthily, he put one ear up against it, one thick hand curling around the handle.

Suddenly, he heard Erikas cry out, then fall silent, and a sick feeling erupted in his stomach. He burst open the door to find Erikas unconscious on the floor, amid the wreckage of the kitchen. Three of the four monsters Magnus had seen enter the house looked up from there various jobs: One was dragging an unconscious woman Magnus recognised as Addison Gibbs towards the back door, another tying Erikas' arms and legs together. The third was clearing a path to the door. Magnus just had time to wonder where the forth one was, when a blow to the back of the head knocked him out cold.

_###_

"They've done _what?_"

Garrastazu eyed Tessa through the screen impassively. "They appear to have taken Addison Gibbs hostage. Vadas and Pac are also missing. Kozlov tells me that Vadas spotted four unknown monsters enter the house, and radioed her and Pac immediately. Kozlov was in the vicinity, but scouting out the nearby area, as was her job. By the time she arrived on the scene, the group were already leaving, and she was outnumbered four to one. She tells me she felt it her duty to remain hidden and report back to me, and I agree."

Tessa was silent for a few minutes. Then, "What am I supposed to tell Boo?"

"Don't tell her anything; there's nothing she can do, and she's better off not knowing. Just be alert; this is bigger than we thought. Oh, and I'll be sending over some more agents for extra security."

"Oh." Tessa thought about Boo, blissfully unaware of her mother's capture, and Rex, whose situation had suddenly become very tricky. "All right then."

She knew it was no good arguing; Garrastazu had already made up her mind.

_###_

Tessa found Scarlett watching the camera footage, as expected. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she explained what Garrastazu had said. Scarlett was furious. "Why didn't she tell _me?_"

"Uhhh," Tessa had not expected this reaction. "I guess she knew I would tell you."

"But why didn't she tell _me?_ Why _you?_"

"Well, I am technically in charge of this mission. It's only standard procedure to give orders directly to the leader."

"I know that!" Scarlett fumed. "But why is she sending more agents, or didn't you bother asking?"

"I already told you that: We need more security now."

"But why?"

"Well," said Tessa, not sure how to respond, "With the situation as it is, I'm guessing Garrastazu feels that Boo is in more danger than we thought. She wants to be on the safe side."

"But we're _fine_. We don't need backup!"

Tessa stared at Scarlett, confused, and her perplexity at her comrade's behaviour temporarily overcame her dislike. "Scarlett, what's wrong? You've been behaving strangely ever since you arrived. I thought you loved playing it safe, so what's changed?"

"Nothing!" Scarlett spat. "Nothing happened and there's nothing wrong with me, so just _leave me alone to do my job!_"

_###_

As soon as Tessa had left, Scarlett slumped down onto her desk, wrapping her pounding head in her tentacles. Why didn't – why _couldn't _– Garrastazu _trust_ her? So she'd made one mistake, messed up once, and suddenly she found herself here, demoted, and without any power. And now, _now, _she was to be shown exactly how little faith her superiors had in her. They thought she couldn't handle a mission this easy, when all she'd done since she arrived was work as hard as she could to prove to them that she was still of worth.

They weren't giving her a chance. It wasn't fair.


End file.
